Vote moves Pennsylvania closer to ending state-store system

At 1:17 a.m. Saturday the 27-member Republican majority won and the 23 Democrats lost.

All the Republicans supported an amendment to a bill that could end the state's 80-year monopoly on wine and spirits sales.

"It was a good bill without the amendment, but the amendment made it better," said Sen. Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, who drove his caucus to victory in the marathon session. "We had constant interaction with all our members, discussing the merits of the amendment and how it can be improved."

Should the amendment pass the full Senate and House later this weekend, Corbett will have succeeded where Gov. Tom Ridge and Gov. Dick Thornburgh failed.

"Tonight, the Senate took an important step toward bringing consumer choice and convenience to the people of Pennsylvania," Corbett said in a statement Friday.

But Wendell Young, president of United Foods and Commercial Workers Local 1776, said the vote was an effort by Senate Republicans to appear to advance Corbett's agenda and "had little to do with the issue itself."

The amendment would open up beer, wine and alcohol sales to 14,000 locations. There are 600 state-operated liquor stores.

Under the plan, state stores will continue to exist as private stores are added. But once privately owned outlets outnumber state stores 2-to-1 in a county, the Liquor Control Board must close the state stores within six months. Before the LCB closes a state store within a municipality, it must consider the state store's lease, the availability and pricing of liquor in the area and the profitability of the store.

That formula, which resembles the House plan, would allow beer distributors to sell wine and spirits in addition to cases and six packs of beer. Existing restaurants and taverns licensed to sell beer could also sell wine to go. Grocery stores that meet certain size and sales retirements could purchase a license to sell wine and beer if they are more than three-quarters of a mile from a beer distributor. Gas stations could get in on the act, too.

The amendment also calls for the LCB to lease its wholesale distribution system to a successful private bidder for 10 years — if the lease would increase annual profits to the state.

Liquor privatization is one of the three main issues Corbett would like passed in the 2013-14 budget, which must be approved by 11:59 p.m. Sunday. The other two are pension reform and transportation funding. On Saturday. liquor and transportation were close to resolution, but pension reform was dead.

In March, the Republican-led House steamed-rolled Democrats to approve a liquor bill, which did not specify how the proceeds from a sale would be spent. Since then, House Republicans have introduced competing bills to use the money for transportation or education.

The Senate did not begin debating the liquor bill until late April when Sen. Chuck McIlhinney, R-Bucks, a vocal critic of the House bill, began holding hearings. Those hearings were often stacked against Corbett's plan.

Early this month, McIlhinney introduced his liquor bill. It largely gutted the House plan. It did not set a deadline for when state stores should close or sell the wholesale system.

Then McIlhinney's plan stalled. He could not find support among colleagues in the Senate. Not until Monday, after weeks of cajoling from Senate leaders, did McIlhinney garner enough votes to get his bill and the original House bill out of his committee.

Since then, the search has been on for at least 26 votes to move it further.

Pileggi has led the effort, drafting and redrafting an amendment to appease his members' concerns. It continued into Friday and Saturday.

About two hours later, Sen. Mike Brubaker, R-Lancaster, said Republicans had lost a few votes.

Those lost votes caused Pileggi to ask minority leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, for permission to go beyond the 11 p.m. curfew the Senate imposed after the infamous 2005 pay-raise vote by legislators. Costa agreed and Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley, who presides over the chamber, called the Senate into "ease."

As Republicans met to discuss the amendment, Democrats remained on the floor. To pass the time, Sen. Andy Dinnamin, D-Chester, and a few colleagues toured artwork in the chamber. Sen. Timothy Solobay, D-Washington, played solitaire on his computer.

At about 12: 20 a.m. Saturday, Republicans emerged from the caucus and Pileggi read his amendment, which ultimately passed but not before Democrats took to the podium to condemn it.